New Telegraph

Bandits flee Zamfara to neighbouring states

•Police bans use of clutch motorbikes

•Matawalle: No more room for negotiation with bandits

 

 

An indication has emerged that military operations currently going on Zamfara State aimed at flushing out bandits in the North West, is yielding results, as bandits are on the run.

 

Some residents of Dange Shuni Local Government Area, Sokoto Statem, made this known in interviews with VOA Hausa service that they saw bandits fleeing Zamfara State as troops of the Nigerian soldiers took the fight to them in their hideouts.

 

The VOA Hausa service monitored in Lagos on Friday quoted eyewitnesses as saying that they saw bandits who were fleeing the war zone, as they were looting shops, taking foodstuffs, which they would eat with them.

 

Other reports had it that some of the bandits were filling their motorcycles with fuel from filling stations. In addition, there were reports that the fleeing bandits abducted 20 villagers from Bissalam, Fajaldin – linear settlements on the Gusau – Sokoto highway, Dange Shuni LGA.

 

Some of the victims were however lucky to escape. Sokoto State Commissioner of Security, Colonel Garba Moyi (rtd) confirmed this in an interview with VOA when he said the Sokoto State government had taken steps to prevent the fleeing bandits from turning the state to a place of refuge anywhere in the state.

 

He said: “We locked down about 10 local government areas which shared boundaries with Katsina State, Zamfara and Kebbi states as well as the Republic of Niger.

 

There is no coming in or going out.” On the military operations going on in Zamfara State, the retired army officer, who is also an intelligence officer, said that it is paying off well but there are some drawbacks. He said: “The same steps should have been adopted simultaneously in Zamfara, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna and Niger states in order not to give an escape route for the terrorists at all without anywhere to run to.”

 

Also weighing-in, a don at Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, Prof. Tukur Muhamad Bawa, said it was well in order to have shut down markets, roads and telecos, which have thrown the people into some difficulties, but it’s worth it because the bandits have been thrown into a disarray. Furthermore, he supports the steps taken by the Federal Government in routing the bandits. This, he said, should have been taken long before now.

 

He urged the Federal Government to take similar steps in all the North Western states, where there are security challenges.

 

Furthermore, reports had it that the Nigerian troops are taking the onslaughts on the terrorist both in the air and on the ground, especially in the areas hitherto occupied by the bandits. In the meantime, telecommunication services have been shut down in 13 Local government areas in Katsina State.

 

The development may not be unconnected with the ongoing security operations against bandits in the North West. The affected LGAs are Sabuwa, Faskari, Dandume, Batsari, Danmusa, Kankara, Jibia, Safana, Dutsin-Ma and Kurfi, which are on the fringes of the Ruggu forest where most of the bandits are hiding.

 

The other three include Funtua, Bakori and Malumfashi. This comes a few days after the National Communications Commission (NCC) denied plan to shut down telecom sites in Katsina.

 

It would be recalled that the NCC had refuted a trending social media story claiming that the commission had ordered telecom service providers to shut down their sites in Katsina. In a statement, Director General (Media), Abdu Labaran Malumfashi, had said the Executive Vice Chaiman/ CEO of NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta, had spoken to the state government on the matter where he said the story was false.

 

Also yesterday, the Zamfara State Police Command warned the general public across the 13 local government areas of the state and some parts of Gusau, the state capital, to stop the use of motorbikes with clutch with immediate effect.

 

Briefing Journalists at the Command during Weekend, the Commissioner of Police, CP Ayuba Elkana, said the development followed reports that the use of motorbikes with clutch by some criminal elements in delivering fuel to bandits in the bushes. Elkana stated that, the decision for the order came after unveiling the new plans by bandits for getting fuel through use of motorbikes with large size tanks that consume number of gallons at a time.

 

Also, the Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has declared total closure of all doors for repentance against armed bandits, who have been terrorizing peace for over a decade in the state.

 

At a Friday sermon in Gusau, Matawalle disclosed that a team of community members from some villages were sent to him by the armed bandits seeking for offer of pardon as they promised to surrender all dangerous weapons in their possession.

 

“Some highly respected dignitaries from the villages of Mada, Ruwan Bore, Ajja and some others have contacted me seeking approval to offer audience for the bandits as they wanted to surrender once and for all but I rejected because, my administration had used every avenue to secure peace in the state but they finally deceived me.”

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